Memory Mondays – Golfing

Golf is a popular summer pastime, considered by many to be a great way to get out and enjoy the summer weather. The first formal golf club in what is now Saskatchewan started in Regina in 1899, and by 1926 there were around 100 golf courses in Saskatchewan.

The WDM’s Barton collection of photos is a collection of around 1,000 photographs covering a period from the earliest part of the 20^th century to the 1980s. This collection is from one family who lived on a farm near Saskatoon for multiple generations and provides a great view into everyday settler life in Saskatchewan.

This collection features a few photos of golf, almost all of them from 1941 but taken in various places across Saskatchewan. We’ve selected five of these photos to share with you today! Click on the photos to enlarge.

This photo was taken on September 28, 1941 “at home,” which likely refers to the Barton family farm. It features a group of five individuals practicing their putting.
The location of this photo may look familiar to some who have spent time in Prince Albert National Park. Taken at the Waskesiu Golf Clubhouse in the summer of 1941, the lake is just visible in the back. The clubhouse was built during the Depression as a way to provide work to people who were unemployed. The clubhouse still stands today and is a designated heritage building.
Taken at Pike Lake on May 24, 1941, this photo shows a man mid-swing. May 24, a Saturday in 1941, would have been Victoria Day (which, until 1952, was always observed on May 24 unless it fell on a Sunday, in which case it would be observed on May 25).
This undated photograph shows a group teeing off at the Eighth Street Golf Course in Saskatoon. The Eighth Street Golf Course is now known as the Wildwood Golf Course. It was established in the late 1920s, and the area was supposed to be developed into housing in the 1970s. However, when the city announced plans to close the golf course there was a huge public outcry. Two public plebiscites were held, both showing overwhelming support for the golf course, and the plan was eventually scrapped.
Our last photo was taken in September 1942 and shows two men with their golf clubs and a dog. A note on the photo remarks they were getting in one last day of golfing before it snowed.